Fallout: Beneath a Radiated Sun
by Sai'u Dante
Summary: An original story, original settings, and all original characters.
1. Chapter 1

_AUTHOR'S NOTES:_

I do not own Fallout or anything else like that blah, blah, blah.

This is a completely original story, filled with all original characters, and an area of the American Waste land not covered in the games. There for I will be taking a few liberties within my story, yet will be attempting to stay as close to the overall Fallout Universe as possible. I will try to bring any attention to big discrepancies as they come up, but if I do miss anything, just let me know and I'll try to provide an explanation for my altercations.

I will try to update as regularly as I can, but sometimes the real world tends to take a bit of precedence, and all that jazz. Between my student's, rugby, and those all important significant others I will do my best to get a chapter up here at least once a week. But if I don't then do not fret, I will see this through to the end.

So without further ado let's get this party started…

War, war never changes…

In the years leading up to the Great War the world was gripped in the cold grasp of the Reapers hand.

The great plague swept across the land killing untold millions

America closed its borders quarantining millions as they raced to develop a cure

What they discovered however was something far more intriguing

As the true nature of what FEV could accomplish became known the military quickly rushed in to take control

Mere men became super beings capable of unimaginable strength and ferocity

After the Great War these abominations swept across the land killing any who resisted, and taking any unable to fight

Turning captives into mindless, heartless, soulless creatures as themselves they were able to bolster their numbers

They began moving west reclaiming the ruins of once major cities as their own, fortifying them for their war with the brotherhood and Mankind

These Super Mutant tanks of muscle and bone feel no pain, no remorse, and no mercy and as their ever widening circle of influence increases more and more villages and towns fall to their terror

With no reason other than the domination of all living things the Super Mutants pressed on with their brutal and bloody campaign

Killing with the efficiency of the plague they had been intended to cure, they have caused the world to once again become gripped in the cold hand of the reaper, because war. War never changes

. 1 .

The night air was cool as a steady breeze blew down the mountains into the small town of Rockshed. The town was hardly more than a few dozen bombed out buildings, most of witch still stood, that the inhabitants had erected a sturdy wall around using scrap metal and long dead automobiles. The City that Rockshed was built on the outskirts of had long since been forgotten, its building long since shattered by the Great War, and the elements of this new harsh wasteland. A high way stretched off to the North and South as far as the eye could see, tracing its way along the great mountains behind the town to the West.

Tanner lay on an old, all but destroyed sofa on the porch of his small home. He lifted the half empty bottle of warm beer to his lips and swallowed hard. It was a lazy evening for him. He was not needed on watch tonight, and tomorrow he would be leaving with a merchant caravan, perhaps for good. In his twenty two years he had barely ventured outside of the town and its surrounding city, and for the longest time he had relished in the tales told by traveling merchants, adventurers, and warriors that had come and gone. His parents had been dead for almost ten years now, and the need to set out and find a better existence had been building inside of him for too long. He was skilled with a hunting rifle, and after proving himself to the caravan master he had packed his bags and readied himself for this new adventure.

The town was stable, but boring. They were able to feed themselves, had enough Brahmin that they could trade for guns, ammo, or other luxuries. But it was a stifling place, capable of killing someone's soul if they stayed here too long. Tanner had seen it all before. Except for the occasional raider attack, life dragged on here everyday like the day before. As he finished his beer Tanner let his mind drift to the possibilities that tomorrow could bring. Breathing deeply he could almost smell the promise of adventure in the air.

Kooouuuch…. A distant gun shot split the night air and Tanner was on his feet in an instant, hunting rifle in hand. The shot had come from the town wall, but no alarm or voice had been raised to sound a warning. Tanner sat back down. _ 'Another false alarm' _he told himself, _'happens all the time._' Some one on watch gets jumpy and starts shooting at shadows. But as he lay down and closed his eyes the peaceful night was shredded with the sound of automatic gun fire, and the cries of the men on watch for help.

Tanner was back on his feet in a flash, the hunting rifle cradled comfortably in his hands as he raced through the dirt streets towards the large metal gate to the town. From every house came men with weapons in hand as they raced to give aid. As Tanner rounded the corner of the last building into the large open courtyard in front of the gate he heard someone yell,

"Lookout!"

But it was too late; he was ripped from his feet by a skull shattering blast. It took several seconds to shake the fog from his mind, as his ears screamed the shrill sound of agony into his head. With blurry eyes he looked up and saw the gate ripped open like the gapping maw of some devilish creature, its shiny metal teeth illuminated by fire. All around him the other men of the town struggled to their feet. Then they came.

Like mountains of flesh and bone they poured through the mouth of the now sinister gate. Tanner had only heard stories of them; he had never imagined the shear terror that such creatures could produce, or what awesome fire power they could wield. The super mutants poured into the town, mini guns shrieking shrill songs of death and destruction as a thousand rounds ripped through the town. Tanner scrambled to his feet and dove into an alley way as the super mutant swung his arm around guiding his belching tool of death his way. The buildings shook, crumbled and began to fall as their very supports were ripped apart.

Tanner raced down the narrow streets away from the gate; there was nothing he could do against a foe as fearsome as this. He could hear the screams of the town's folk as the daemons of the night slaughtered them at will. Bursting from the alley way onto the merchants street Tanner saw the caravan guardsmen charge the street, weapons in hand, as a pack of mutants came around the corner at the far end of the street. Dropping to one knee he aimed his rifle and added his shots to the thunder of gunfire from the guardsmen, but the creatures seemed impervious to the hail of small arms fire rained upon them. They charged the men, and dispatched them with sledge hammers and rippers, spraying blood in every direction. Tanner charged down the road away from the beasts, ducking into another alley as the mutants continued their relentless hunt.

As he ran up the steps of his porch three at a time he lowered his shoulder and slammed through the door of his small home, the chaotic sounds of gunfire ceased, replaced by the terrified screams of the towns folk. Blocking from his mind the images of what must be taking place out there; Tanner quickly grabbed his pack, thankful that he had already been prepared to leave. Giving his house a quick look, he shouldered his pack and left. There was an escape tunnel at the back of the village for just such an occasion. The thought that he was acting like a coward briefly crossed his mind, but was quickly replaced by the image of the charging super mutants, and the seeming invincibility of their massive forms.

'_Anyone dumb enough to stick around and try to fight these things is stupid,'_ he told him self as confidently as he could.

Slowly sticking his head out of his now shattered door he carefully looked back towards the gate. There were several rows of buildings between him and the courtyard, but he could see large grotesque shadows moving about the town and could hear the horrified screams of women and children mingled with the agonizing gurgles and death throes of the dying men. Tanner took the steps in stride, wrapping the shoulder strap to his rifle around his right arm with the flick of his wrist, a nervous habit of his from long nights on watch. He jogged down the dirt street not expecting any trouble from the mutants, he was well enough ahead of them at this point

"TANNER!"

Tanner stooped down and scanned the dark streets until he saw a shadowy figure hidden in an alley way. Quickly charging across the street he slid to a stop next to the man in the alley way. It was Paul, the town's mayor. He was wide eyed and clutching a beat up AK-47 in his shaking hands.

"Tanner what's going on, what's happening?"

"Sir it's… it's…" Tanner fought for the words to explain. "It's super mutant's sir. Their unstoppable."

"My God. We're not prepared for this. They'll kill us all."

Tanner shook his head, his heart pounding in his chest. "We can still escape, through the tunnel, and into the mountains. There's nothing we can do for the fallen, and those of us still alive should all be trying to get out of here."

"Yes, yes, that's a good plan." The mayor paused and stared at the ground, lost in thought.

"Sir, we have no time, let's go!"

"No….no you go. Get Brooke she is in the underground bunker inside the old furnace. Get her and keep her safe."

"Paul, there's no need to stay here and throw away your life; we can all make it out of here together."

The two men were thrown into the alley as what was once Tanner's house exploded in flames, spraying the town with bricks and shattered pieces of wood. As they peered back down the street the fire illuminated the giant ten foot tall creatures as they methodically searched the town. Their killing spree seemingly at an end, what the two men saw now horrified them beyond imagination. The super mutants were dragging living towns folk from their houses, and hoisting them into a cage that rode on the back of a creature so grotesque, so powerful, so full of anger and rage that it's eyes looked as thou they could have killed as effectively as any weapon ever made. The behemoth mutant stood taller than any building in the town. It lumbered forward, plucking the live humans from his smaller mutant brothers and tossing them into the rusted metal cage on his back.

The mayor grabbed Tanner and shook him, breaking the young mans stare on the demonic creature. "Tanner, go. I can not let a fate like this fall upon Brooke. I am not young enough, or strong enough to keep her safe outside of town, but you are. Promise me you will save her. Protect her. I will stay here. Distract them, and buy you as much time as I can."

"I promise you sir; I will get her out of here. I will get her someplace safe."

"Thank you my boy. Your parent's would be very proud of you. Now go, and tell Brooke that I love her." Tanner shifted the pack on his back and bolted from the alley and down the street, as Paul knelt near the alley firing shots at the mutants. Tanner heard the shriek of the mini guns again as he flung himself through the door of the mayor's house, and new that Brooke's father was no longer alive.

Willing with all his might for his eyes to focus in the pitch black of the house he began feeling his way to the back room. There he took the stairs down into the basement where an old furnace, rusted and useless sat. Everyone in town knew about the old bunker here, they had built it years ago to hide the children during raider attacks; tonight it seemed Brooke was the only one that had made it here. He felt for the handle and opened the old creaking door as quietly as possible. He paused for a second, mindfully trying to slow his hard beating heart. He could hear the faint whimper of scared breathing from the chamber below.

"Brooke…" He whispered as loud as he dare. "Brooke we have to go."

"Who is it? Where's my father?" Tanner winced at the loudness with which she spoke.

"Keep your voice down. It's Tanner. There's no time to explain. We have to go and we have to go now."

"I am only supposed to leave here when my father comes to get me."

"Damn it Brooke, who do you think sent me?" Tanner bit his tongue, forcing himself to calm down and lower his voice. "If we do not leave right now there is a fate far worse than death awaiting us out there. Now if you want to stay here and discover what that is fine by me, but I'm leaving." Tanner sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity in the stillness of the dark basement, not even the sounds of the hell outside could penetrate the quiet. Finally he felt a gentle hand grab for his, and he helped the girl up out of the chamber.

"I need to get my stuff." Brooke whispered softly, clutching Tanner's hand.

"I'm sorry but there is no time. We have to make it to the tunnel behind the destroyed jail past the Brahmin pins."

"I know where it is."

The two survivors crept up the stairs and back into the house. The screams of townsfolk began drifting back into Tanner's ears, and the house was eerily illuminated by fire nearby. They slowly crawled to the window near the front door, and Tanner instructed Brooke to keep down as he took a look. From the window he could see the mutants still continuing their search, they were half a block away, but moving quickly, most every house from here to the escape tunnel had been destroyed long ago. They would finish their sweep of the town in no time. Tanner pulled Brooke up and put her back to the window. Her eyes were large and wide with terror, and he wondered what his own eyes must look like illuminated by the flames behind her.

"Ok…. Listen to me and listen good. No matter what you see out there, no matter what you hear, no matter what happens you have to keep running. Don't stop running. If anything happens to me, you keep running. Do you understand me?"

Tanner watched as she purposely nodded her head in confirmation, and noticed for the first time that she had tears streaming down her face. He ground his teeth and wished that somehow he could grant her the silence of that basement as the screams of the townsfolk grew louder.

"Don't let go of me."

Brooke tightened her grip on his hand, and with one fluid motion he through open the door, pulled her to her feet, and began racing down the street away from the mutants. Their feet pounded the hard packed dirt road sending up little clouds of dust. Brooke nearly lost her footing once but her tight hold on Tanners hand enabled her to quickly fall back into step. They pushed themselves as hard as they could to the end of the street and as they jumped over the fence into the Brahmin pin, Tanner thought they might have avoided detection. But as they landed hard on the other side, the mutants could be heard shouting in their deep guttural voices.

"Humies! Humies, to the north!"

The pair quickly regained their footing and raced beyond sight of the street as several beams of energy ripped through the air behind them. Moving as quickly as possible they picked their way through the long destroyed buildings along the north end of town. In the near distance they could see the one remaining wall of the old prison illuminated by the fires of their dying town. Somewhere out of sight the super mutants could be heard barking orders. Tanner could not make out what they were saying, but he was sure they were hunting for them. Stealing a quick look back he saw four of the beasts in the Brahmin pin, making their way towards the prison. Their large bulks would have a much more difficult time making it through the maze like piles of ruble and fallen houses. He and Brooke just needed to keep moving quickly.

At last they managed to make their way to just in front of the prison. All that lay between them and hopeful freedom was a twenty foot stretch of brightly illuminated dirt road. The Escape tunnel beyond was far too small for the mutants to use. It ran west into the mountains several hundred feet. If they could make it through there they could slip away, hidden by the darkness of the moonless night into the mountains.

"Ok Brooke. You ready?" Tanner waited for a response as he stole another glance backwards. "Brooke?" He jerked her hand, and looked at her. She was lost, starring down the street at the behemoth mutant in all its glory. It was walking purposefully through the streets scanning over roof tops for survivors just like them, every step falling like thunder upon the land. Tanner grabbed hold of her shoulder with his free hand and spun her to look at him. "Brooke. Focus. Let's go." She made no acknowledgement, only stared at him, her mouth open, lower lip quivering, and tears still running down her face. Tanner reached up to her face and wiped away the tears from her cheeks. "It's going to be ok."

With that he pulled her to her feet and raced across the street ducking into the cover of the prison wall. Stealing a quick look back down the road Tanner exhaled a sigh of relief that the behemoth had not seen them. Quickly making their way to the escape tunnel they crawled inside, emerging some four hundred feet from the village at the base of the mountains. Pausing only momentarily, Tanner removed a canteen of dirty water from his pack and offered it to the girl. She drank greedily at first, then composed her self and offered it back to him.

"Ok, this is no place to stop, we have to get as high into these mountains as we can tonight." Tanner took a long pull from his canteen. "You have to push yourself until you cannot go anymore, ok?" With a nod of her head, she wiped the still falling tears from her cheeks and the pair pushed on, upward into the mountains, and away from the devastation that was once their lives.

***

Hours later the two stopped their trek up the mountain side. Brooke had never complained during the ordeal, but Tanner could see in her face that she had pushed herself to the brink of exhaustion. They had stopped several times and he had gazed hard back down the mountain watching for any pursuers and had never seen one. As he sat watching the remnants of their town burn he could still see the large bodies of the super mutants trekking amongst the fires, and even from this height the massive body of the behemoth sent chills down his spine. Brooke slept fitfully as she rested her head on his pack, still tightly clutching his hand, she had not let go of it since he pulled her from the furnace hiding place.

Staring tiredly out across the bleak dark landscape beyond the burning town He shuddered at the thought of what greater evils lurked out there in that darkness. He knew so little of the world outside of town, and even less about how to protect this girl the mayor had thrust upon him. After starring down the mountain for another hour, he finally convinced himself it was safe to get some sleep. He curled up next to the sleeping girl, making sure not to let go of her hand, as he drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Felt inspired on my day off so chapter two came pretty quick and easy to my head. Wish they were all this easy to write. Anyways let me know what you think, hate it, love it, whatever…_

. 2 .

Awakening at the first signs of light, Tanner tried to shake the grogginess of sleep from his head. As he wrestled to block out the images of the nightmare the night before, he realized they were all too real as he felt Brooke's hand still clutching his. He sat up and looked at her as she still slept in the early morning wasteland sun.

She was sixteen years old and he had always thought she was more beautiful than any girl he had ever seen. But she was young, and the mayor's daughter, so he had always forced any thought of intimacy from his mind. She was blonde with an angel's face and blue eyes that always seemed to shine with an inner fire. Her lips were soft and red, and when they parted they revealed a smile that could make the most battle hardened warrior stop in his tracks. Her skin was soft and lightly tanned, and her young well developed body looked good no matter what she wore. Tanner smiled at her sleeping there, her face caked with dirt and the trace marks of the tears she had cried endlessly the night before. He had been so focused on getting them out alive that he had never stopped to think about what it was he had been saving. Brooke was a true treasure amongst this waste land. She was like a spring flower, just beginning to blossom in this post apocalyptic hell.

Letting go of her hand for the first time since the night before; he crouched behind a rock and looked down at the smoldering remains of their town. The super mutants were gone now, but nothing remained of their home. Every building had been burned, or bombed, and the black smoking remains looked nothing like the place they had once lived. In the distance to the east he could see nothing but the ever continuing plains of what was once Wyoming. To the north and south stretched the entirety of the Rocky Mountains, and to the west he didn't know. In his life very little news ever came over the mountains.

Their lives had been pretty simple in the town below. They both knew very little of the outside world. Tanner knew that it was important to avoid the Cheyenne silo fields at all costs as it had been a haven for feral ghouls since only a few years after the Great War. Something to do with a malfunctioning Vault and nearby nuclear missile silos. There was Campus at Fort Collins a few weeks to the south. Traders had always talked about it being a safe place, but he could not remember seeing anyone from there in the last few months. The Democratic State of Boulder, a few days south west of Campus, was known for its safety despite its close proximity to the Mile High Ruins. There was a large town a couple weeks to the south between Rockshed and Campus by the name of Cuideste, but it was notorious for gamblers, bandits, and raiders.

"TANNER!"

Tanner jumped, startled by the sound of Brooke's cry. He spun around and quickly grabbed hold of her hand as she reached for him.

"It's ok Brooke, I'm here. I'm right here."

"It wasn't a dream was it?"

Tanner reached out and brushed the hair from her face. "No, it wasn't." He paused briefly. "I'm sorry."

Brooke swallowed hard and reached for the canteen lying near her. "Are those… those things still down there?"

"No, no it looks like they have gone." Tanner glanced over his shoulder as Brooke drank deeply from the canteen. "But there's nothing left. There's nothing there to go back too."

Wiping a hand across her mouth she pulled on his hand helping herself to stand. "I want to see it."

Tanner quickly spun her so her back was to their former town. "Are you sure? There's really nothing to prove by doing that."

Giving a small nod as she bit her lower lip Brooke turned around and gazed for the first time upon the remnants of her home. Tanner reached down and grabbed her hand in his as tears began to roll once more down her cheeks. They stood in silence for several minutes watching the acrid black smoke curl up into the sky, both lost in their own thoughts. The silence dragged on forever as both became lost in their own memories within those walls that had once seemed so safe.

"You said last night that my father sent you for me."

"Yes he did. It was his last wish. He told me to tell you he loves you."

"Those things didn't…" Brooke fought hard to choke back the sobs rising in her chest. "They didn't take him did they?"

Tanner pulled her so she was no longer looking at the town. "No. He fought them to give us every second he could so we could escape. His every last thought was of you, and your safety."

Brooke moved into Tanners arms and hugged him close. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Tanner wrapped his arms around her neck and held her close, rubbing his hand up and down her back like his mother used to do to him when he was sad. "We should get moving. We need to find food, and water."

Brooke sniffled hard, and wiped her eyes on Tanners shirt. "Ok. Where should we go?"

"Well there's Cuideste to the South. Should be about two weeks walking, but I've heard lot's of bad things about that place. It's notorious for bandits, and raiders."

"What about to the North?"

"Nobodies heard word from up there in months. I was actually going to head out with that caravan that had been in town today. We were going to go check on the settlements that way."

"If we go to Cuideste won't we be in danger of running into more of those mutants?"

"Maybe, we don't know where they came from, or where they went. But the Cheyenne silo fields are filled with Ghoul's not mutants." Tanner looked South East along the mountain range watching it fall away in the distance. "We could walk the old highway. We could travel faster that way, but we'd be a lot more vulnerable. And I hear it runs right into the silo fields."

"So we stick to the mountains?"

Tanner turned looking up the mountain slope reaching into the sky above them to the South. "From what I remember from looking at the caravan masters map yesterday, if we can cross over this ridge we can walk due south to Cuideste. Shouldn't be much living in the valley that runs South, and we can stick to the mountain sides for the most part to stay outta trouble."

"But that's a long way, what will we do for food and water?"

"We'll have to eat what we can hunt." Tanner nodded at his rifle leaning against a rock. "Water's gonna be a lot more difficult. Anything we find out here is going to be pretty dirty. We're going to have to drink and eat only what we really have too. Once we get there we'll get us a couple doses of Rad-Away." Tanner rifled through his pack pulling out a couple packages of pre-war doughnuts. He tossed one to the young girl as he tore his open with his teeth and sat down. "You think you're up for this?"

"Is there another option?" She asked before stuffing a doughnut in her mouth suddenly aware of just how hungry she was.

"No." Tanner said around a mouth full of the sugary food, white powder spraying into the air. This made Brooke shake her head slowly, too which he just smiled.

Brooke took a small drink from the canteen washing down the cakey substance in her mouth. "So we make it to this 'bandit' town and then what?" She pulled another doughnut from the package.

He swallowed hard, refusing his urge to drink from one of his canteens already thinking about their supply of water. "From the little I know about the waste land, I think we should get supplies. Then press on to Campus. Maybe if we are lucky we can hitch on with a caravan heading that way."

Brooke smiled, her teeth glistening in the morning sun. "Ok." She tossed the last of her doughnuts into her mouth.

Tanner slung on his pack, and grabbed the rifle in his hand. As they started to walk along the mountainside Brooke reached out and took his free hand in hers, holding tight to the last living memory of her past. They walked along the rocky hillside keeping an ever vigilant watch for the dangers that their new lives were sure to encounter.

***

Four days of hiking through the rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains began to take its toll on the two weary survivors. The couple of rat's Tanner had been able to kill did very little to satiate the hunger from the endless walking. Water was even scarcer than food, and both were beginning to become severely dehydrated. They had enjoyed a good deal of safety however by sticking to the mountains. But both were beginning to think that perhaps the valley below them would be better. It would make for an easier walk south, and the hunting would most certainly prove more substantial. But after a brief discussion, agreed that safety was the most important thing for now. They crested the rim of a small side valley, just hours before sunset, and Brooke pulled hard on Tanner's hand, dragging him to a stop.

"What? What is it?"

"Look down there, near that group of rocks."

Tanner peered into the depths of the valley, and finally focused on a small flickering camp fire. Near the fire stood a pack Brahmin loaded with goods tethered to the blackened remains of a tree, and a large man sat cooking something. "Get down." Tanner whispered and the two knelt down and watched for several minutes as the man went about his activities.

"I think he's alone Tanner. Maybe he can give us some food?"

"Yeah, maybe he can." Tanner scanned the valley carefully. "We will watch him for awhile longer, make sure he's alone."

"Ohhhhh. I'm so hungry. And look…" Brooke pointed excitedly. "He's got water. He has to have twenty canteens on that Brahmin."

Tanner squinted at the lone figure and his animal. "How can you possibly see that from here?"

"Uh… Come on, let's go." Brooke pulled on Tanner's hand and began leading them down the hillside into the valley floor.

Before they made it to with in a stone's throw from the man he stood up with a pistol in hand and fired a shot in their direction. "Now you hold it right there damn it!" The man squinted hard in their direction through his thick round glasses.

"Sir, sir we don't want any trouble." Tanner raised his rifle above his head and slowly walked forward. "Our town was destroyed by mutants, and we've been hiking through the mountains for days now, and we are just hungry and thirsty."

The fat balding man pushed his glasses back up his nose as he peered out at the hillside. "You come here nice and slow. The boff of you, and you set that there rifle upside that rock, and maybe we can talk."

Tanner and Brooke walked slowly into the man's camp. Tanner placed his rifle against the boulder as he was instructed, then stood arms raised as the fat man looked them over. Brooke stood slightly behind Tanner repulsed at the over powering smell of filth and sweat coming from the large man, or the Brahmin, or both. After adjusting his glasses once more and waiving his pistol at the two he mumbled something to himself then snorted loudly, and spit something green and slimy into the fire.

"Well airight, you seem harmless 'nough. Go on ahead and have a sit down."

Tanner unstrapped his pack and let it fall to the ground with a heavy thud. Thankful to be free of the burden he sat down, and massaged the back of his neck. Brooke sat close to Tanner, trying to keep as much of him between her and the large sweaty man.

"Now wha' dis bout ya'lls town bein destroyed?" The man spoke slow and thick, as if he were wrestling the words to come off of his fat tongue.

Tanner rubbed his aching forehead. "Can we get some water?"

"Well sure thang youngin. You jes' help ya little self. Don't ya worry, Bruno der don't bite. Much! Hahahaha." The man's laughter was like the gurgle of some dying abomination, and spittle flung from his mouth, and down his chin. Brooke walked to the Brahmin and removed one of the canteens, noticing that as the man wiped saliva from his chin, he never took his eyes off her. "Now yous was sayin youngin?"

"We are from Rockshed. Small ranching town –"

"I knows it I knows it." The man interrupted gesturing with his hand for tanner to hurry along.

Tanner took a long drink from the canteen offered to him by Brooke, and felt a wave of refreshment wash over his body. The water was hot, and dirty, probably highly irradiated, but at this point he no longer cared. "About a week ago, our town was attacked by an army of super mutants. They killed, or took everyone. As far as we know, we are the only two survivors."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh. And now's ya'lls done gone and gitten yourselves lost in da mountains."

"We're trying to make it to Cuideste. Or Campus would be even better."

The man stirred the pot of bubbling goo that sat over the fire. Tanner noticed that the pistol never left his hand, and that his finger never left the trigger. The man was a grotesque figure of fat and skin. A stark contrast to the mountainous slabs of muscle and power of those super mutants only nights before. But Tanner was starting to feel uneasy, he was beginning to feel the same kind of raw hate, and disregard for anything or anyone else within this man. He cursed himself for sitting so far from his rifle. He had not been thinking clearly, tired and thirsty, willing to trust some stranger, who now it appeared had them at his mercy.

"Well I s'posse old merchant man Tom could help a couple a youngins like yourselve's out." The man left his cooking and lumbered to the side of his pack Brahmin. "Now I's don't got a whole lot o' merchandise wif me at dis here moment, but I's do got a few thang's might be able to helps ya'lls out."

The large blob of a man fumbled through a few saddle bags on the back of his pack Brahmin, and eventually returned to the fire side with a sack that he lay out on the ground, its contents spilling on the dirt. Tanner recognized a few of the things immediately, normal things he had seen in the town everyday. But mixed in the smelly traders wares were a few very interesting items.

"Now you go on; take ye'selves a nice long looksy. See what's a' there that migh' be o' interest to ya. And I, gonna go on, and get dis' here grub ready to's eat." With that the trader removed the pot from the fire and walked back to his Brahmin.

"Tanner, do you have any caps?" Brooke whispered, keeping an eye on Tom.

"I have a couple hundred. We will just get what we need, and then be on our way." Tanner knelt down next to the pile of goods.

"Good, cause this guy is really giving me the creeps."

Tanner sifted through the merchandise. Two stimpacks, would have been great to have, but out here would cost more than he had. He sat aside a couple bags of Brahmin jerky, and three canteens of water. There were some small fusion cells for some type of energy weapon, a few frag grenades he knew they couldn't' afford, but he was able to find a box of 7.76mm ammo for his hunting rifle that he placed with the jerky and water.

"Brooke you see anything we may need?"

Staring at the pile Brooke removed a metal tube about as long ass her forearm, it opened and closed like some kind of metal clam. On one side was a screen with a few buttons and dials. "What is this thing?"

"I have no clue, never seen one before."

"Ah, no that dere, is a B-E-A-utiful little gizmo righ'dar. It's a pre-war artifact, from one 'o dem big underground vaults. It's damn near priceless." The sweaty man handed bowls to his guests filled with the weird bubbling goo, then sat down with his own bowl and began slurping heavily at the concoction. "Now whatcha all think you gonna need?" Tanner pointed with his spoon at the small pile of goods he had set aside. "That's whatcha need eh?" The fat man rubbed a large plump hand across his greasy forehead. "Well din that gonna run ya 'bout one hundred fity caps. Plus da grub ya's eatin now, and da water ya already drank, I say we make it an even five hundred."

"We don't have that much money. So I guess we'll just be on our way." Tanner sat down his bowl, grabbed Brooke by the hand and stood up.

The man moved to his feet and raised the pistol still clutched in his meaty paw with a speed the belied his massive bulk. "Now you's two's just hold on a sec. Nobody, gonna come in'da my camp, except my humble hospitality and then jus' think they gonna walk on out." The man took a few steps towards the two, never lowering his aim from Tanner's head. "Now, da ways I see's it, you need's my help, more than I need's to not kill ya boy." Tom snorted, and spit again into the fire causing it to hiss and pop. "So here's whatcha gonna do fer me. You gonna sit back down, and finish your meal, while me and you's little lady frien' here gonna go have us some quality time."

Tanner glanced at his rifle, cursing again; it was too far for him to make a leap for it. "Sir we don't want any trouble. We'll give you what caps we do have, just let us be on our way."

"Hehehe, I reckon you's don't want no trouble. But that's what we got here now ain't it. You go on lookin at that thar rifle 'o your's again, and I gonna put a bullet through that young dumb head 'o yours. Now we's can do 'dis here thang the easy way, or da hard way. You gets to make that there decision." Tanner stood glaring at the man, his jaw set and tight, trying desperately to think of anyway out of this. "Tell ya what youngin, things round in here gone and gotten pretty tense, so why don't we just cool down a little bit. Take that there vault thingy and try it on, it's actually a splendid little toy."

Brooke handed the device to Tanner who took it never taking his eyes off the large slobbering man. Opening it up he placed his left forearm inside and closed it shut. The device latched onto his arm with a solid bite causing him to wince in pain. The black screen on top flickered to life but showed nothing but green static. Tanner tried a few of the buttons and knobs but too no avail, the screen remained nothing but static.

"Yeah, great gadget, it doesn't do shit. Now how do I get it off?"

"Hahahaha." The man sprayed spit in their direction as he let loose another of his guttural laughs that made his body jiggle. "That there's da beuty 'o it. It don't come off. Not till who ever be wearin it is dead. Hahahaha."

Tanner tried desperately to unclasp the device but it's vice like grip on his forearm held true.

"Now, now boy. Way I see's it is that now you's be wearing an expensive piece 'o my merchandise, and you got no other means ta pay 'ol Tom here, we's gonna be doin things my way."

Brooke, gripped Tanners hand tightly, and moved back behind him.

"Now, come on pretty girl, don't ya be's 'fraid of 'ol Tom. I promise, it gonna be real gentle like."

"I won't let you touch her, you fat fuck." Tanner let go of Brooke's hand and took a step towards the fat merchant. The man reacted quickly, lowering his pistol and firing a shot into Tanner's leg. Tanner fell to the ground clutching at his thigh as it oozed blood onto the parched earth. The man once again aimed the gun at the young man's head, as Brooke knelt down next to him.

"Listen here you two's little brat's. I'm getting real tired of trying to be nice, does ya understand. I will kill you boy, with no regrets, and as for you blondie, make no mistake that while I's would prefer's not's to kill ya. I got no problem raping a dead girl, so again, I's be letting you make the choice one's more time. We gonna be doin's this da easy way, or da hard way."

The three stared at each other in silence; only the crackle of the campfire offering up it's suggestions on the situation. Tom pushed his glasses back up his sweaty nose, and stared hard at Brooke as he cocked back the hammer to his pistol still aimed steadily at tanner's head.

"Ok, ok. Just don't hurt him."

"No Brooke, you can't do this. Run, run away, leave me here and run." Tanner did his best to stand, but the pain in his leg shot lightning bolts through him and defeated his efforts each time.

"Brooke, no dat dar be a right pretty name. But me's be thinking I's jes' gonna call ya bitch. No let's get goin. I gonna show ya's how we have fun time back in tha den." The large man watched with crazy lust filled eyes as Brooke moved between him and Tanner. His heart beat faster as he watched the curves of her body sway beneath the soft fabric of the short dress she was wearing. "No boy you 'jes keep sittin thar trying not to bleed to's death, and finish your fuckin grub, like a good little guest. And don'tcha goes worryin 'bout your little friend. She's gonna learn the first rule 'bout being out here in tha wastes. You gotta do whatever it takes to get ya'self something ta eat's." With that the large man pushed Brook down the valley floor towards a large group of standing boulder's.

Tanner watched in horror as the two disappeared behind the boulders, and in Brookes last glance back at him he could see the desperation in her eyes. He tried to stand again, tried to will the pain from his mind, fought with clinched teeth, but the pain was too much. He screamed and kick at the items in front of him with his good leg. Then he stopped, he was focused, he had a plan, he was going to make that fat bastard pay.

***

Brooke felt, dizzy, sick, tired, repulsed. She wanted so much to be anywhere else but walking towards those rocks with this grotesque mountain of a man pushing her along. She hadn't known what to do. She couldn't let Tanner die, not after all he did for her back at Rockshed. In the back of her mind she knew that this horrible man was probably going to kill him anyways, and keep her for himself. She shuddered at the thought. She had done this because she knew Tanner would do something. He had to, he couldn't, wouldn't let this happen to her. As they walked behind the line of rocks she stole a glance back, her eyes burning as they silently pleaded with Tanner to come help her. Then he was gone.

She was alone now with the mountain of a man, the stench of his body only out done by the vomitous smell of his breath escaping heavily from his lungs, and over his fat slimy tongue. He reached out a large chubby hand and grabbed Brooke by the back of the head pulling her to him, he tried to kiss her, tried to force his tongue inside her mouth, but when she fought him he slapped her hard, then grabbed her by the shoulder and flung her against a boulder.

She landed in the dirt her head spinning from the slap and the boulder; she could feel a trickle of blood stream down her cheek. She wanted to cry, the tears were right there, sitting at the corners of her eyes just waiting to burst forth like a thunderstorm of rain, but she fought them. Somewhere inside of her she knew that she could never give this man the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Just as she knew that pleading with him because she was a virgin would only excite him more. No. Tonight she had to grow up. Tonight she would learn the meaning of strength.

"On you's feet my little bitch." Tom grabbed her by the hair and pulled hard as he lifted her to her feet. She wanted to scream out but she dare not. The man once again pulled her close to him, and again tried to force his tongue inside her mouth, but again she fought. This time the man did not slap her; he shoved her against the boulder, and held her pressed between his weight and the rock. He tried continuously and eventually succeeded in forcing his fat slimy tongue inside her mouth.

As she tried not to choke on his vile tongue penetrating her mouth, she was attempting to fight his hands away from her breasts and ass as he groped at her. But he was large, and stronger than she was. He eventually tore the dress from her body, leaving her naked before him. He smiled at her naked body glowing in the moonlight. She shivered at the coolness of the gun still clutched in his hand as it brushed her bare ass. The mans putrid breath poured over her body like a vomitous blanket, as he kissed her neck and shoulders, then worked his way down to her breasts, taking her nipple in his mouth. She wanted to fight him, but she was tired, and weak. She could not defeat this man.

Soon the man tired of kissing her naked body, and forced her to her knees, as he undid the belt holding his pants up. She pushed herself away as the man tried to force his erection into her mouth. Again he slapped her and this time held the pistol to her head. She looked down at the ground desperately trying to find the courage and strength to fight this mountain of a man. As the man guided her gaze back up to his erection with the barrel of his pistol, she wanted so much to be home, safe and sound. She tried desperately to find the resolve to just get this over with so she could leave

"Now come's on my little slut. Show 'ol Tom just how much you love him. Hahahaha" Brooke reached up with her shaking hand; unsure of what exactly to do, but knowing she had to try. She had to try if she wanted to live.

KAKOOOCH! The shot echoed inside the circle of rocks, and along the valley floor like a cannon blast splitting the night air open. The fat man screamed in agony as he stumbled out of the circle into the valley lit by the campfire. Brooke saw as he backed toward the fire that the hand in which he had been clutching his pistol was now reduced to a mangled mess of dangling fingers and spurting blood. From the hillside she saw Tanner limp down into the valley, never taking his steely gaze from the man. Brooke's mind seemed to snap to a new state of consciousness. She felt in the dark and found the man's pistol, she gripped it tightly, ignoring the warmth of his blood still on the handle.

Brooke emerged from behind the rocks completely naked. Her dress had been torn and was no longer wearable, but she didn't care, because now, now it was she that was in charge. She would show this grotesque pig of a man just how strong she could be. Tanner fired a shot near the man's head, and the man stopped, raising his arms in the air.

"Ok……ok's you's all win, take what's ever you want."

Tanner knelt down so he was looking Tom in the eyes. "I am going to take whatever I want. I'm going to take whatever I want because I'm learning the first rule of life out here in the wastes, do whatever it takes to get food." Tanner spit in the man's face, and then smiled at him, and spoke in a voice mocking the old fat man. "Now don't's youse go on worrying thar 'ol Tom, I's not gonna kills ya." Tanner laughed to himself, and then looked at Brooke standing naked in the firelight, her long blonde hair blowing in the breeze. "But I bet she sure might do it."

Tanner stood and began loading up his pack with all the supplies that seemed useable from the fat merchants pack Brahmin. He fashioned another pack out of a couple saddle bags for Brooke to wear, and found her some of his old Brahmin skin clothes to wear. He tossed the clothes to Brooke, and as she got dressed, he filled her pack with more supplies, and things they may be able to sell in town.

"Where are your bottle caps you old fuck?"

"Thar…thar tied 'round tha neck 'o me Brahmin."

"Thank you very much." Tanner removed the satchel of caps and tied them to his pack. "Hey Brooke, You gonna shoot him, or just stare at him all night?"

"This piece of shit doesn't deserve to live." She raised the man's pistol, aiming at his head. "But I'm not the kind of person to kill someone." Lowering the pistol to her side, she strolled purposefully towards Tanner, but as she passed Tom she fired a shot into the fat man's genitals, rendering them useless and unrecognizable.

"What was that?" Tanner asked a crooked smile on his face.

"It went off on its own." She smiled, as she slung the pack on her back, and tucked the pistol into her belt.

The two began hiking back into the mountains, leaving the fat trader Tom screaming in agony, and bleeding out onto the wasteland floor. Tanner's leg was walk able now thanks to the two stimpacks the fat man had carelessly left within his reach, and Brooke seemed to walk with a bit more confidence. She had fought off the man just long enough to let Tanner get to her. Next time she would defeat her enemy herself. As they crested the small hillside leading South out of the valley, Brooke took Tanners hand again, and they set off in the direction of Cuideste.


	3. Chapter 3

. 3 .

"I'm so sick of eating doughnuts." Brooke looked at the package Tanner had just tossed to her.

"I'm just happy that fat bastard had so many with him." Tanner tore open his own package and greedily shoved one in his mouth.

"Don't remind me about him." Brooke ate her food less enthusiastically. "How much farther do you think?"

Washing his food down with a large gulp from a canteen Tanner looked at the stars and began thinking out loud. "Well we've been walking for ten days now. I'm not real good with distances but I figure we've been covering eight to ten miles a day. That's what eighty to a hundred miles?" He paused to yawn and scratch behind his ear. "I don't really know, but can't be more than a couple days."

Brooke stared at him her mouth slightly open and eyebrows cocked. "Wow really helpful." He smiled at her through a mouth full of cakey doughnut. Tossing a small piece in her mouth she looked out across the moonlit mountainside, the dead black twisted trees standing even more ominously in the valley. "Their like phantoms marching to no where," she said pointing into the valley.

"Tanner craned his neck over the rock he was resting against till he was looking upside down into the valley. "That's pretty dark," he stared for a few more seconds before returning to his meal "but you're right they do."

"I can't eat this anymore." She tossed the barely half eaten package in Tanner's lap.

"You gotta eat." He held the doughnuts back towards her. "We have to keep our strength up."

"We've been eating those damn things for six days. You don't even try to hunt anymore. I need meat or something."

Tanner tossed a piece from her package into his mouth and chewed it slowly as he stared at the fire flickering in her big blue eyes. She stared back unblinking. "Alright," he sighed pushing himself off the ground and grabbing his rifle. "Don't eat my fucking doughnuts while I'm gone."

"I won't I promise." She said smiling big while clapping her hands softly. "And hurry back."

Tanner shook his head and began walking down into the valley. "Brat," he muttered to himself as he picked his way down the rocky hillside.

"I heard that."

"Good." Tanner jumped off a small rock shelf. "And I was serious about my doughnuts."

They weren't high in the mountains tonight, but the way to the valley floor was an old rockslide so the going was difficult in the dark. He had to test each foot before transferring his weight. A couple of missteps sent him sliding down the embankment but each time he had been able to catch himself and was soon at the bottom, the phantom trees looming above him. Black twisted reminders of what the world had looked like before the bombs fell.

He glanced back up and could barely make out the illumination of their fire, if he didn't know it was there he probably would have missed it. As he entered the dead forest he flicked his wrist wrapping the sling of his rifle around his right arm. There were patches of scattered scrub hiding beneath the black trees. He knelt in the shadows allowing his eyesight to adjust to the moonlight. As he listened he could hear the rustle and squeaking of small animals.

'_Rats_.' He thought to himself.

Slowly he began to make his way through the forest traveling in the direction of the sound. Carefully picking his way around fallen trees and long dry creek beds he was soon within eye sight of the small dog sized rodents. There were three of them milling about eating the scruffy scrub grass. He flicked off the safety as quietly as possible. One of the rats glanced his way at the noise, sniffed the air, and then returned to eating.

He raised his rifle to his shoulder using the fallen tree he was kneeling behind to help steady his shot. He found the largest one and brought its head into line with the open sights of his rifle. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly; he opened his eyes and rubbed the tip of his finger against the cool metal trigger.

Brooke sat watching the fire crackle and spit. She was hungry, really hungry. But the thought of stuffing more of those sugar packed remnants of the past down her throat made her feel ill. She needed real food. Anything would be better right now Rat meat, or a roasted ant, or a Brahmin steak. Her stomach began to gurgle and her mouth salivated at the thought of a big juicy Brahmin steak.

She had always thought life in Rockshed was boring, but it had been home, it had been safe. She had never told her father, but she had always known that one day she would leave. The call of the outside world rang too loudly in her soul. Yet she had never in her darkest nightmares have thought it would be under circumstances like this. She had always dreamed of some handsome traveler falling in love with her and saving her from her boring existence. She wanted to see the outside world, visit new towns, and experience new things. Standing up to stretch she glanced down into the valley and saw Tanner creeping into the burnt out forest.

_'Never thought I'd be leaving town with him." _She thought and smiled to herself as she walked up the hillside away from the fire. "But you're lucky to have him." She whispered into the wind. "Without him I'd be dead or…" She shuddered at the memory of 'ol Tom. "Worse."

The moon and stars were bright tonight she could see everything almost as if it were early morning. She thought about the many nights she had snuck out of her father's house to meet her friends in town. They would sit in the cover of ruined buildings and drink rotgut someone had stolen from their parents, or smoked cigarettes, or played drinking games.

_'How childish and naïve we all were.'_ She smiled softly at the memories, then felt her eyes burn and a sudden unexpected lump appear in her throat. _'Their gone now. All gone, Patti, Roberto, Paul, Nati, and Alley all gone.' _ She fought against the tears as memories of her life long friends flooded her mind. She had not been alone since that night and Tanner never talked about it. Maybe it was too painful for him too, or maybe he was protecting her from remembering. But now here on the side of a mountain alone she could do nothing but remember.

_'Patti had always been the one to sneak out with the liquor, but always because Nati would prod her into doing it.' _She laughed a little through her tears_. 'Roberto was the one that was always afraid they would get caught and Shawn.' She couldn't help but smile. 'Shawn I miss you.' _Her thoughts turned to a night about a year ago when it had been only her and Shawn that snuck out. He had kissed her, long and slow. They liked each other and had always been very flirty and kissy, but that night. That night she had almost gone through with it, but she just wasn't ready. She was afraid it would hurt, and her father always told her that boys change after something like that. Standing in the moonlight alone she wished she had gone through with it, at least he liked her; at least he had never tried to force himself upon her.

Kaoooch. A shot rang out shattering the silence of the night sky and snapping Brooke back to the present as it echoed through the valley. How long had she been standing there crying and staring at the stars? She wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve and peered down into the valley, but all she could see was the 'phantom' trees. Two more shots range out and then silence.

_'Three shots, Must have been one big rat?' _She laughed too herself. She eyed the valley floor wishing she could see through the blackness inside the trees. After the crack and echo of the gun shots the ringing in her ears made the silence seem to drag on forever.

'_Hurry up Tanner I'm starving up here.' _She could already smell the meat cooking on the fire.

Suddenly there were three more shots in quick succession. Brooke couldn't see anything but she felt a knot in her stomach that began to grow with each passing second. Without taking her eyes from the trees she walked back to the fire and grabbed her pistol firmly in her hand. Something was wrong and she knew it.

_'Come on Tanner where are you? Where are you?' _Her mind was racing what if he was hurt, what if he was dead, what would she do out here alone? She wanted to scream out to him but she bit her tongue. If someone down there had hurt him, or worse, she couldn't help him by giving herself away.

She heard a yell from the valley that sounded like it could have been Tanner. It was quickly followed by two more gun shots. Something roared and Brooke saw a couple of the tree tops sway as though they had been hit by something heavy. The sound of the roar made her shiver physically. It was unlike anything she had ever heard before; it was guttural, viscous, and brutal. She imagined it was like hearing the shriek of the bombs themselves hundreds of years ago as they fell destroying everything. Two more shots and another tree shook from a hidden impact. This time the tree was closer to the edge of the valley. Brooke's heart was racing as she saw Tanner burst from the tree line running as fast as he could to the rock slide.

"TANNER!" She yelled surprised at how loud her voice echoed in the valley.

He shouted something back to her as he took to the rockslide with speed and grace she had not seen since that night in Rockshed. But she could not understand what he was saying.

"WHAT? " She cupped her hands to increase the volume and direction of her voice. But he was too busy running up the hillside in leaps and bounds. A couple of times he hit a loose patch and slid a few feet back down. She could hear him yell something but still could not make it out. He was scrambling on all fours, his rifle clutched in his hand, up the slippery slope. She was scarred, her body was shaking, and she didn't know what to do as she saw a large black creature burst from the tree line. It looked around briefly and sniffed the air before it spotted Tanner scurrying up the mountain side and let out another beastly roar.

_'Yaogui'_ she processed quickly

"TANNER!" She screamed so loud she thought her lungs might burst.

Tanner whipped around bringing his gun quickly to his shoulder. He fired three shots as fast as the bolt action rifle would let him at the creature. The animal screamed in pain and rage as it stumbled backwards into a tree, causing the twisted trunk to shake violently.

"GRENADES!" Tanner shouted as he continued his climb up the mountain.

Brook drove her hands into his pack and pulled out one of the frag grenades he had taken from the trader. She quickly threw it down the hill at Tanner.

Tanner watched in horror as the grenade arced from Brookes hand towards him. He scrambled as fast as he could not believing that the girl he had been trying so hard to keep alive was about to send him to an early grave. At least the bear like mutation chasing him was a senseless being. A creature bent on death and destruction, but her? She was alive because of him. She was smart she had a sensible brain. And now she was going to kill him. He rolled into a fetal position sliding a few feet down the loose rocky hillside, and watched as the grenade tumbled harmlessly down the mountain towards the enemy.

"THROW IT AT HIM!" Tanner pulled his rifle to his shoulder and fired two quick shots at the yaoguis head, causing it to slip a little down into the valley. "AND PULL THE FUCKING PIN FIRST!" Tanner resumed his heart racing climb up the mountain. The thought of doughnuts flashed through his mind.

_'If only the brat had been happy with doughnuts.' _He thought to himself as he watched Brooke lob another grenade down the hill. This one exploded twenty feet short of the creature, but the rockslide it caused carried it back down to the valley floor. It sat shaken for a moment then roared louder than anything he had ever heard. Tanner quickly started firing as fast as possible. Pistol fire from Brooke now started to pour down the hill and into the animals thick hide.

Seemingly unfazed by the bullets raining down upon him the bear began lunging up the hill towards its prey. It's heavy weight and over aggressive stride continually caused it to slip and slide back down the hill in the loose rock. Tanner quickly loaded another magazine and continued to fire. The yaogui was getting closer despite its two steps forward one step backwards progress.

"GRENADE!"

A grenade arced through the air exploding five feet from the bear. The blast sent it sprawling down the mountain in another rock slide. Tanner quickly began climbing trying to get as high as he could. He stole a look back and saw the creature charging up at him with a limp. As he raced up the hill he could see Brooke's face illuminated by the barrel flashes of her pistol her eyes wide with fear but her jaw set in determination. He stopped and turned, the yaogui was more than half way to him having found a relatively solid path up the rockslide, he raised his rifle and tried his best to concentrate his fire at its head, but the creature was unfazed in its charge. Tanner shouted in rage his mind had left him and he was seeing red. He was out of options he would be dead soon and Brooke would be soon to follow.

_'Fucking doughnuts,'_ was the last thing he thought of as he lost consciousness in a flash of pain and light.

Brooke reloaded her pistol as fast as she could. The animal was charging again up the hill right at Tanner. Their gun fire seemed to do nothing to the bear like creature. It was filled with bloodlust and every shot only seemed to fuel its rage. As the creature found some solid footing and began to gain ground more quickly she heard a voice in her head.

_'GRENADE!'_ It sounded like Tanner but he wasn't yelling anything coheirable. Brooke quickly plucked another grenade from the pack and lobbed it. She smiled as the arcing projectile exploded right on target. The explosion sent the animal cart wheeling backwards as rocks shot out in all directions. The beast landed hard on the mountainside and was then swept into the valley by the resulting rockslide. It laid breathing hard and trying its best to get back on its feet despite missing both its front limbs from the elbow down. Tanner lay unmoving on his back. The bear had been so close that even with a direct hit he had to have suffered some damage from the blast.

Brooke walked carefully down the hillside and picked up his hunting rifle. She sat down and took a couple of deep breaths then brought the sights up to eye level and aimed at the back of the struggling creatures head. She squeezed of one round, then two, three, and four. At last the yaogui stopped moving in the valley below. Breathing a deep sigh she focused on relaxing her shaking muscles as she checked on Tanner. He was alive and breathing, he had a few minor scratches from rocks and fragments from the grenade, but she was sure he would be fine.

_'How the fuck do I get him up this hill?' _She thought to herself.


	4. Chapter 4

. 4 .

Tanner was someplace dark and unfamiliar. His head was killing him as if his brain were swelling and trying to break free from his skull by pounding against it with an ice pick. He was hot and sweating but couldn't remember where he was. A sudden flash of memory shot through is aching head. Rats, the forest in the valley floor, and doughnuts. He tried to shake his head to clear away the fog. Was he dreaming? Was he dead? A shot rang out. It was from his rifle and one of the rats heads exploded while the other two went into a panic. A cool rush of air swept in behind him. Yaogui. The memory burst into his mind like a nightmare. After the first shot the giant mutated bear had lunged from the trees opposite him. He fired two more shots then turned to run. He didn't stand a chance against this thing.

Hunting parties in Rockshed had talked about these things, about their immeasurable strength and ferocity. That if you were ever unlucky enough to see one before it saw you, you were better off just leaving it alone. And, well if it saw you before you saw it, then luck didn't matter anymore. They were the mutated offspring of ancient bears. Over the years they had become stronger, bigger, and faster than just about any other creature roaming the waste land. A daemon born from mans war, here to reclaim the land from the species that had so ignorantly destroyed it.

Tanner ran through the forest, turning once or twice to fire quick shots at the creature's legs hoping to cripple it somehow. But the shots did little more than to cause it to stumble a few times and anger the animal. As he took to the rockslide he started yelling at Brooke to throw grenades. The yaogui was unfazed by anything they did and Tanner could remember it charging him. He was out of options, he worked the bolt action on his rifle so fast he was sure it was going to jam, but in a few seconds that wouldn't even matter anymore. Then the light, the pain, what was that last memory? It floated there at the back of his mind teasingly. Then he remembered.

_'Fucking doughnuts,'_ Tanner snapped his eyes open then quickly wished he hadn't. The sun was high in the sky and the brightness drove spears through his eyes and into his aching mind that was still attempting to mutiny against his skull. He heard movement near by then felt a semi cool rag touch his forehead. He reached up and pulled it down over his eyes, his finger tips brushing against soft skin.

"Brooke?" He tried his voice weak and his throat parched.

"Just relax, let me get you some water."

He heard more movement and then the rim of a canteen touched his lips. He did his best to swallow as she gently poured the water into his mouth.

"I am so happy you're alive. I didn't think you were going to wake up." The note of concern in her voice was filled with honesty and fear.

"What happened?"

"I threw a grenade, it was amazing, time just seemed to stop and I could see you and the yaogui and everything else so clearly. The throw was right on target, it exploded directly beneath it's head tearing it's front legs apart and sending it hurtling down the mountain." Brooke slowly poured more water into his mouth. "But it was so close to you, maybe ten feet maybe a little more. I thought you were dead, but somehow your wounds are just superficial. Well all the wounds except the one in your head I guess?"

Tanner rubbed his temples through the damp cloth. "How long was I asleep?"

"A day and a half, I was really starting to get worried."

"Concussion most likely, from the blast or my head hitting a rock, probably both." Tanner reached out blindly for the canteen and Brooke placed it in his hand. "What's that smell?" He asked before taking a long drink, suddenly aware of a strong and appetizing smell wafting through the air.

"Oh I'm just cooking some yaogui. It's really good. I don't think I've ever eaten as much as I have in the past day." She laughed a little resting her hand on Tanners forearm. "It should be done shortly."

"You got meat off that thing?"

"Yeah, I mean I waited until I was sure it was dead before I went down there, and even then I shot it in the head a couple times to make sure." She paused to pat Tanners chest as he coughed on the water he was drinking. "Take it easy, what kinda person survives a yaogui attack, a grenade blast, and then dies drinking water?"

He couldn't help but smile through the pain in his head. "So you're telling me that little Miss Brooke, who I've never even known to touch anything before it was cook, let alone actually cook it, hiked down a mountain and carved up a bear?"

"Hehehe," she laughed her soft gentle laugh, "I was a bit surprised myself, but I was so hungry that I had to eat something. And you made it pretty clear that I was not to touch your doughnuts." She laughed again. "But you know what once I got started, and after the first two times I threw up, it wasn't that bad. If it didn't smell so bad I really don't think I would have a problem at all."

"The blood didn't bother you?" Tanner pushed himself up onto an elbow, his head began to spin and he immediately lay back down.

"I told you take it easy. I've got this under control. I haven't seen anyone or anything since that night, and yes I have been keeping a constant watch. At night I don't even light a fire, just to make sure."

_'Who is this girl and what has she done with Brook?' _Tanner smiled to himself.

"That's good, that's really good. Where'd you earn all that?"

"I've just been watching you for the last week; I know that you wake up several times during the night just to look around. I see how you scan the mountainsides carefully in all directions, and how you always watch the valley floor with extra caution. All that and you know, the rest is kinda common sense."

"And field dressing an animal?"

"Um… What?"

"Ha-ha, getting meat off the yaogui."

"Oh, well I don't know anything about that, but I know what meat looks like before it's cooked so I just carved pieces that looked like that off. And no the blood didn't bother me nearly as much as I thought it would."

"Mmmm. Well I have to say you are a quick learner now aren't you. But then again you always have been smarter than you like to let people believe." Tanner propped himself up on an elbow, this time the dizziness in his head passed quickly. He removed the rag from his face and squinted at the large piece of meat roasting over the fire. "That really does smell amazing."

"You sure you don't want a doughnut?" She laughed as she held a package in front of his face.

"No thanks, I think I'll try your cooking first. Can't make me feel worse than I already do."

"Hey now asshole, maybe I won't give you any you keep talking like that." Brooke smiled and jabbed him softly in the ribs with her elbow. "Why don't you get some more rest and I'll wake you up when it's done."

Tanner lay back down and returned the wet rag to his face. "That sounds great."

The two sat around the campfire watching the afternoon sun fade into dusk. Tanner ate the meat Brooke had cooked with a ravenous appetite. He couldn't remember anything having ever tasted so good. A few times he got dizzy from eating too fast and had to consciously force himself to slow down. He could already feel the protein from the juicy meat coursing through his veins. Brooke had been right a diet of nothing but prewar doughnuts was no way to live.

Having had their fill the two lapsed into a long satisfied silence that stretched on into the early evening hours. Tanner began dozing off and finally had to force himself to stand a walk around a little. His head was still swimming with blurred pain, but he was able to over come the dizziness easy enough now.

"You think you'll be ok to travel tomorrow or should we rest another day or two?"

"I should be fine. We need to get out of these mountains and get some supplies."

"Oh I almost forgot," Brooke pulled a grenade out of her pocket and tossed it to Tanner, "I got it while I was down collecting meat."

Tanner smiled at her as he tossed it into his pack. "Good work with those grenades by the way. That Yao Guai would be eating us right now instead of us eating him if it weren't for you."

"Are we going to die out here?" She asked softly.

"We all have to die somewhere."

"Tanner!" Her voice had gone from sweet and soft to annoyed and harsh.

"Look, we've already survived a Super Mutant attack, a run in with a psychotic trader, and an encounter with one of the scariest fucking things I've ever seen. What else can the wasteland through at us?"

Brooke shivered at the thought, _'what else indeed.'_


	5. Chapter 5

. 5 .

The next two days in the mountains of the wasteland passed with relative ease. They had plenty of food and water that they had stolen from the merchant, and only once had seen another living thing. It was a group of men and Brahmin in the plains to the west where the valley opened up. Tanner was sure it was a trade caravan. But after a brief discussion about their last run in with a trader they decided to remain hidden in the mountains. Both knew that Cuideste was a place notorious for bandits, but at least it was a town. It at least had to have some resemblance of law compared to the untamed wastes.

They spotted Cuideste early on the second evening about a quarter's day walk to the South East from the mountains. As they both stood starring at the barely shimmering lights Brooke could tell Tanner was thinking of something.

"What's on your mind?"

"I think we should camp here for the night." Tanner spit into the distance. "Far as we know that towns filled with criminals. Now all we need from there are enough supplies to cross the plains to the outpost at Fort Collins." Wiping sweat from his eye he continued. "I figure it would be best if we left out early in the morning, and got to town by mid morning. The merchants are sure to be open, but most the low lives should be sleeping."

Brooke dropped her pack heavily to the ground. "Any day we can stop walking before night fall, sounds like a great night to me. Even if it does mean we have to sleep on rocks again."

Tanner dropped his own pack and smiled at Brooke as he un-shouldered his hunting rifle. "I promise you, I'll be sure to get you a bed roll tomorrow."

The two sat on rocks, both drinking from their canteens. "You think they have any kind of inn there?"

"I'm sure they do. Mostly for hookers and their clients I imagine."

"Do you think we may be able to spend one night in a real bed? Just one night, my back is killing me?"

Tanner rubbed his brow as he stared at the town in the distance. "If it looks safe enough, if we have enough money, and if we get checked in before too many of the ruffians are out and about." Tanner massaged his shoulders as best he could. "I don't think in this state I'm in any position to go fighting a whole town of 'ol Toms. Hahaha."

Brooke shot him a bitter look. "That's not funny. You don't know what I thought I was going to have to do."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

The two sat in silence as the sun sat below the mountains to the west, and the towns lights grew in brightness as night blanketed the land. It had been two weeks, two long tiring weeks since the super mutant attack on their town. Neither had talked about it more than a minute or two, both had been thinking about it since they left the mountainside over looking the smoldering ruins of Rockshed. Maybe it was too soon. Maybe even as close as they had become since then, they had rarely ever said a whole lot to each other in their time there.

"Hey Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"How are you doing?"

"I'm tired. I'm a little hungry but I can wait."

"Ok."

Brooke stole a glance at Tanner as he stared into the distance. She could tell he wasn't looking at anything, just staring, lost in his own mind somewhere. She had only been six when his parent's died, but she had remembered they had been friends back then. There weren't a lot of children in the post apocalyptic wasteland, and even fewer in a small town like theirs. But after his parent's passed Tanner seemed to stare a lot, he was always in his head thinking about something. Most people just thought he was lost in the thoughts of his parent's, but even thou their childhood friendship had died, Brooke had always thought that when he stared off he was planning something, something big and great and fantastic.

"How are you?"

Tanner seemed confused by the question. Perhaps she had interrupted his thoughts at a bad time. "I'm… I'm ok." Tanner took a drink from his canteen. "I'm confused, sad, angry, and worried. Yeah. Yeah, that's how I am." Standing up he walked a bit towards the town they were both still watching, just to wear Brooke could see his back. "I don't think I will ever understand why this happened. I don't think I can ever forgive that fat old man, or those monstrous creatures. I'm confused about what's going to happen tomorrow, and I'm scared that if tomorrow is good, then what's going to happen the day after that." He turned and looked at Brooke, trying his best to fake a smile, but failing. "I am most concerned about getting you someplace safe. I don't know if the outpost at Fort Collins is that place. But it is a start." He noticed Brooke had a tear running down her face, the first he had seen since they left sight of Rockshed. "I promise you, if it takes us a hundred towns, and a hundred years, I will find you someplace safe. I promised your father, and now I am promising you."

Brooke wiped the single tear from her cheek. "I know you will." She smiled. "And when we find that place, maybe… maybe you could stay there too? Just for a bit?"

Tanner smiled big at the young girl who seemed so much older than two weeks ago. "Yes I can stay there a bit. Gotta make sure it's safe. But I just want you to know that I don't know what's going to happen out here, or down there." He turned and looked back towards Cuideste. "I don't want you doing something like what happened with that trader. The next time we are in a situation like that you need to run."

Brooke walked to Tanner's side taking a long drink from her canteen. "Oh really? Cause being out here alone would make everything better?"

"Let's just make camp. No fire tonight. I would prefer to not attract any attention before we arrive in town tomorrow."

The two Rockshed survivors went about unloading their packs, as they began to chew on strips of Brahmin jerky, washing the salty meat down with water from their canteens.

"Ok, let's take stock of what we have. I want everything we're planning on selling in one pack when we get to the trader in the morning."

"Gotcha. This first aid kit we should keep."

"Yes, along with the ammo for my rifle and that pistol of yours. But those shotgun shells and that knife you have we can sell."

Brooke held the knife in her hand, slicing the air with it. "I wanna keep the knife." She said, smiling at Tanner.

"Ok, ok. You can keep the knife. Those grenades would have been nice to sell, but I do prefer being alive." He smiled at the young girl. "But those small fusion cells should be worth a good amount." Tanner tossed the items he wanted to sell into one of the saddle bags. "Ok, with the fat man's caps we have about seven hundred. Plus what we can get for these things I don't think we will have a problem buying enough supplies to make the trip to the outpost."

"And maybe stay in a bed and take a bath?" Brooke looked at him with her eyes opened wide; she batted them and stuck out her lower lip.

Tanner just chuckled at her. "I told you we will see what it's like when we get there." Tossing another strip of jerky into his mouth he starred back down at the town. "Maybe it's not as bad as the stories we've heard."

Brooke leaned back against a rock, ripping a piece of jerky in two with her teeth. "You don't really believe that do you?"

"Nope, not at all." He answered chewing vigorously. "Just trying to make you feel better."

"Well I appreciate it, but after the past two weeks I think I can handle hearing the truth."

The two sat eating and drinking in silence. They made up their beds as best they could, using their packs as pillows, Brooke used an extra shirt of Tanner's as a blanket, and they slowly drifted off to an early sleep, determined to rise before the sun and make their way into town.

The next morning Tanner had to force himself to wake up. The long days of hiking, and the uncomfortable ground accompanied by the noise of the town below had made good sleep an impossibility. They had both been surprised at how loud the town was even from this distance. They had heard yells and a few shots of gun fire and music throughout the night. Stretching his aching back Tanner sat on the rock Brooke was sleeping beside. After hearing the ruckus of the night before he knew that everything they had heard about this place was true and he had been playing with the idea of going to town alone all night.

It was sure to prove a great deal safer to not be dragging a young blonde girl around, dangling her like bait before wolves. But he also feared the potential dangers that could befall her out here alone. At least if she was with him he had a fighting chance of protecting her. How he longed for the safety and peace of mind that Rockshed had held in the years before the attack.

He smiled to himself as Brooke snored quietly. He would have never imagined before the last couple weeks that she could be so strong, so capable, and so brave. She had always been the Mayor's daughter, the quasi princess of town. Sure lot's of men gazed upon her with lustful eyes, many a trader had offered her father ever increasing amounts of money for her as she grew and matured. It had even been rumored that more than a few of the raider attacks that the town had fended off were attempts at capturing the "beauty of Rockshed." Once after those rumors flew around there was even a vote to kick the mayor and his daughter out of town to make it a safer place. It had been defeated but that had only been a year ago, and Tanner could remember seeing the toll it took on her and her father. And now here she was, trekking across the wastelands, no real future in sight, and no past to return to. She looked older now, covered in dirt and dust. She looked stronger than he had ever thought her capable as he reached down and gently shook her by the shoulder.

"Uuuuhhhh…. You can't be serious."

"Come on. We gotta get moving." Tanner busied himself packing his pack.

"I don't like you so much today." Brooke dragged herself upright and reached for her canteen.

"Listen, I was thinking last night." Tanner slung on his pack, and shouldered the saddle bag with the gear to sell. "Maybe I should head into town alone."

"What?"

"Listen you can wait here, I'll go in get our supplies, and come right back. It would be a half day, maybe a little more tops."

Brooke was on her feet now quickly stuffing her things into her make shift saddle bag pack. "And what just leave me sitting out here alone? What if something happened to you in town how would I ever know? What if you got hurt or something worse?" She slung on her pack and spun to face him. "What if something happened to me out here, what if that trader found me, or bandits, or those fucking things?"

Tanner smiled big and wide. "If I was really going to do that I wouldn't have woken you up." He winked at her in the light of the rising sun. "I just wanted you to get up and get ready."

Brooke glared at him; her jawed clinched tight, then spun around and began purposefully striding towards Cuideste.

"Oh come on Brooke don't be like that. It was just a joke."

As the pair neared the town they noticed an old faded sign with the word Laramie crossed out in black spray paint and the name Cuideste painted on a sign crudely wired to the prewar sign. The town was built out of the remnants of some city. It had no wall around it, but many of the entrances into the city between buildings were barricaded with piles of debris, effectively leaving only a handful of easy entrances into town. As they walked along the decaying highway into town they began to notice just how dirty the place was. The smelled reminded them both of 'ol Tom and several drunks staggered about the streets in town, some with bottles from the night before still in hand. Broken glass and trash littered the street sides.

Brooke moved close to Tanner, and he reached for her hand as they noticed most of these men beginning to take an interest in them. Despite their drunken state and blurred vision, the sight of a young blonde girl walking into a town like this was sure to attract attention. Tanner just hoped they could make it in and out of town without causing a ruckus, and without attracting too much attention from the more sober citizens.

"Hi thar purrty girl." Tanner shoved the man back as he reached for Brooke's hair causing him to spill backwards into the dust, his bottle shattering on the asphalt. "Come back 'ere you son of bitch."

Tanner increased his pace and pulled Brooke along, as a few of the drunks went to help their fallen friend.

"Hey thar son I'll offa ya one hundred caps for a little time witcha girly friend." An old man shouted as he urinated in the street with his pants around his ankles.

"Brooke keep your eyes down, and stay as close to me as you can."

"Hey buddy. I got a thousand caps says you give me one night with her and she won't even want to be with you anymore."

"Hey baby let ma see ya's shake it."

"Come on boy, somethang that beautiful supposed to be shared with everyone."

A man walked out of an alley dragging two stumbling girls along with him. The girls couldn't have been much older than Brooke, they were extremely thin and were nearly naked wearing only underwear and old tattered lingerie tops. Their eyes were glazed over and their heads lulled about as if they could barely keep them up. Their skin was pale except for patches of red blotches that looked as though they had been itching themselves for hours. Tanner noticed one of the girls clutching some sort of pink device in her hand. As he watched she shakily brought it to her lips and inhaled deeply. She smiled as her eyes rolled back into her head and her feet quit working. The large man had to pick her up and carry her like a rag doll over his shoulder.

"You too huh buddy?" He winked at Tanner as he passed in front of the couple. "Maybe when's ya done we can switch huh?" The man kept walking and used his booted foot to kick open the door to a house. "Think 'bout it, ya know where's ta find me." He called back as he used his foot to shut the door behind him.

The two continued their march through town. As they went the number of drunks stil wandering the morning streets decreased drastically, until only a few remained pissing in alley ways, and sleeping in the streets. At the far end of the main street they noticed a sheriffs station, the brief relief this might have brought was quickly extinguished by the sight of four bodies hanging by their necks from the porch roof, and the three drunken men hitting them with sticks.

"Tanner I don't like this place."

"Were going to make this as quick as possible." He glanced down into her big blue eyes. "Everything's going to be ok. I promise." Brooke smiled up at him, but couldn't help notice he had slipped the grenade from the sell sack and clipped it to his pack strap. "Just incase." He smiled back at her. She moved the hand not holding his hand to the pistol handle hidden beneath her shirt. Tanner winked at her in approval.

As they neared a large "T" intersection in the middle of town, just in front of the sheriff's station they spotted Mike's general store, and quickly ducked inside. A small bell sounded as they pushed open the door. A bell that's ring sang for far too long in the ominous silence within the store. Tanner looked around, his eyes slowly adjusting to the gloomy light from the stores only window. The store was much better stocked than the one back in Rockshed had been. It was mostly beat up old small arms guns, melee weapons and ammunition, but in a much larger quantity than either of them had ever seen.

"Hello? Hello?" A middle aged balding man in his late thirties walked out of the back room scratching at the ruff stubble that covered his face with one hand, and pointing a fully automatic SMG at the two with the other.

"Whoa. Take it easy sir!" Tanner quickly raised his hands and rifle into the air. Brooke did the same, making sure to leave her pistol hidden beneath her shirt.

"Hahahahaha." The man let the SMG fall from his hand the strap catching it where it rode around his shoulder. "Well shit I'm sorry folks. Thought ya was more 'o them damn drunks trying to steal stuff. I do apologize for scaring you."

The man moved from around the counter and grasped Tanner's hand in his, shaking it hard. "Names Mike. Friends call me Mike. "

"Tanner. And this is Brooke."

The man took Brooke's hand in his gently and raising it to his lips gave it a soft kiss. "Well it is a pleasure to meet such a lovely little couple out here in this place."

"Hehe." Brooke laughed quietly. "We're not a couple like that."

"Well my apologies once again. Now this here is my store, and I assume that you be lookin for one of two things. Information, or merchandise. Well I got's both by the truckload. But as nice as I am, I ain't nice enough to give either away for free." Mike smiled at them. "So whatcha be lookin for?"

Tanner shifted his pack around on his back. "Well we're looking for supplies, and directions to the outpost at Fort Collins. And if there was maybe a caravan headed out that way we might be able to tag along with?"

"Well then my friends let's do some business. Go on ahead and take off those packs, you can leave them right up here on the counter, ain't no fun shopping when your uncomfortable." The man moved quickly behind the counter digging for something out of sight, he then popped up with a large rolled up piece of paper. He undid the tie and rolled it out on the counter. "No this here is an old map of the Rocky mountain chain. I've updated it as much as I can from what traveler's and other traders tell me, but the accuracy may be off a bit. But I can let you use it to punch in the coordinates on your PIP-boy there." The man gestured at the device strapped to Tanner's arm.

Tanner quickly held up his arm as he laid his rifle on the counter top. "You know what this damn thing is?"

"Yeah I seen one or two in my life. People from the vaults where them, or people lucky enough to find one. Which I'm guessing since you don't know what it is, you're in the latter group."

"Yeah, some merchant tricked me into putting it on, now I can't get it off."

"Well yeah, once one of those things is on it's true that it don't come off till your dead. It's something to do with how it monitors your vitals and such, some bio-technical mum-bo-jumbo, that I don'ts no nothing about. But it really is a great little gadget, like a computer you can carry around with you. It's got a flashlight, and you can tune into radio stations, if you're lucky enough to be near one and all sorts of things."

Tanner flicked on the display screen. "But it's broken." He showed the static filled screen to Mike.

"Well that is a damn right shame. Let me try this here." Mike tapped a couple of the buttons. "Now if'n I remember right, and I'm not sure I am, seein as how the last time I saws one 'o these things was four or five years ago. But if you press this button here, then turn this knob. Bingo!" A beam of iridescent blue light shot out from the device traveling in a beam over Tanners hand. "That there is your flashlight, you can use this dial right here to adjust the brightness." As he turned the knob the beam faded. "Ok now this button here on the far side, you press that one, then use this little dial here on the side near ya wrist and," Static began to emit from the PIP-boy, "That there's your volume. This dial here right above that is your signal frequency. You goes adjusting that to see if'n there may be a radio station nears ya." The trader ran his finger along the dial but there was nothing but static. "Yep didn't figure there would be anything out here. I hear tell that the Brotherhood operates a radio station at their outpost down by the Mile High ruins." He pushed the button and the PIP-boy turned off. "Sorry but other than those little tricks, I can't really help much, I ain't that good at fixing things. Well except for weapons. But look here." The merchant pointed at the map. "We be here, in Cuideste, about one week, maybe a week and a half depending on how fast you walk lays the ruins of Fort Collins, to the South East. It's a straight shot, and from what the caravans tells me it's pretty safe. But you should probably avoid walking the highway. Just keep it in sight and it will lead you right to it."

"Excellent. Thanks Mike, what we owe you for that bit of info?"

"Well my friend why don't we conclude our business and then we can tally it up?"

Tanner looked at Brooke who was focused on the map. "Well sir the last time we ran into a situation like that we found ourselves in a bit of a jam."

Mike nodded to himself several times as he reached beneath the counter and pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil. "OK that's right smart of you Tanner my boy. Tell ya what, I'll write down right here how much everything is, and you can stop me anytime you're ready."

"I appreciate that."

"I like you. So how's twenty caps for the map info sound?"

"Fair to me."

"And anything your pretty friend here can remember from staring at it is free."

Brooke looked up quickly an embarrassed smile on her face. "Oh, sorry I didn't mean to." Mike simply waved his hand excusingly and chuckled. "I was just wondering why you have this red X on Rockshed."

Tanner moved to look at where Brooke was pointing.

"Well it's a sad story really. I heard from a couple travelers about a day ago that the entire town has been wiped out. Super mutants from what they could tell. They weren't able to find any survivors."

Brooke held her hand over her mouth and unconsciously leaned against Tanner who put his arm around her shoulder and held her as they both stared at the red X scratched on the mans map.

"My God." Mike looked at the two intently. "You knew people there didn't you?"

"No. Well yes. We lived there. We escaped when those things attacked."

Mike scratched out the line that read map twenty caps. "Now you're out here wandering the wasteland just trying to find someplace safe." Brooke nodded her head as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Well fuck me if my dead wife ain't gonna roll over in her grave. The map info is free. You two youngsters just let me help ya out ok?"

"You don't have to do that sir."

"No boy I'm not kind enough to go giving away my store for a couple of orphans, but the least I can do is help ya out, seeing as you're here." Pushing the map aside he motioned with his hands at Tanner. "Now let me see what ya got to sell."

Tanner unloaded his bag of sellable goods, but remembering the harsh lessons learnt from the last merchant, he kept the bottle caps hidden in his main pack. The merchantman looked through the small collection of items mumbling numbers to him self.

"Ok. Now what about that grenade clipped to your pack?"

"I'd like to keep that one."

"Good decision son. Always nice to have at least one incase times get hard. And what about bottle caps?"

"We have about three hundred. Maybe a few more."

"Right, right. Now anything you especially need?"

"Food and water."

"Of course, of course."

"And how are ya on ammunition for your rifle?"

"I have plenty."

"And Brooke dear do you have a weapon?"

Brooke pulled the knife and the pistol from her belt. "I got these. Don't know how to use them very well."

"Humph. Well enough." Tanner laughed under his breath.

"Mind if I take a look at that pistol?" Brooke handed him the weapon across the counter. "Bah. This thing here is a piece of shit. Old 9mm Berretta. Don't get me wrong it was great in its prime but this one here is more likely to blow up in your hand than fire properly." Mike walked up and down his counter looking through the glass and the guns inside. "Ah, here we go." He removed a square stubby pistol from the case and walked it back to Brooke. "Hold this here in your hand, see how it feels." She played with it in her hands testing the weight and grip. "No that there's a 10mm pistol. All the old vaults had them inside, ammunition is very easy to find, and replacement parts are easy as well."

Brooke smiled at the man and his enthusiasm for his trade. It was a bright contrast to that of 'ol Tom. "I don't think we can afford this."

"Well now, how much of that 9mm ammunition you got?"

Brooke pulled a couple boxes out of her pack.

"Ok, we will consider the ammunition from the 9mm and the ammunition for the 10mm an even swap. Seeing as I use 9mm in my little pretty here." He patted the SMG still hanging from his shoulder. "The 9mm berretta is a popular gun, and especially with the bandits and such around here, but it would cost too much for me to fix it for ya. So seeing as how I can make a killing fixing some drunk thugs pistol with parts from this one, I can sell you that 10mm for say 200 caps, and make the lose up on him."

"Ok Mike, sounds like a deal." Tanner smiled as he nodded at the merchant. Finding Mike's smile to be warm, and trustworthy. For the first time since that horrible night he and Brooke were finding a bit of normalcy in their new lives. The merchant hurriedly scribbled the details on his pad.

"Now food. I don't have much in the way of variety, but I do have a lot of Brahmin jerky. It will keep forever, and it will sustain you. A two weeks supply for two people will run you ninety caps."

"As long as it's not prewar doughnuts I don't care what it is." Brooke smiled as she pointed her new pistol around the room.

"Humph, they kept us alive." Tanner chuckled. "We'll take it."

"Ok so with the remaining ten caps you have I can sell you a week's supply of water. Should be enough seeing as you already have a good amount." Mike gestured at their packs lying on the counter top. "Now with what you have here, the small fusion cells are your best asset, and those shotgun shells and those doses of psycho those are real popular 'round these parts, I can give you about six hundred caps for those. Now I suspect your going to need a few stimpacks, just incase. I can sell ya 10 for three hundred caps."

Tanner smiled a big smile at Brooke, who returned her own big smile to Mike. "It all sounds good to us sir." She said as she took a broad look at his wears around the store.

"Please, please my lady has a look around. You got three hundred more caps by my math."

Brooke took her leave of the two men and began walking amongst the stores merchandise. She noticed armor and weapons mostly. Lot's of medical supplies she didn't know how to use. On one of the back shelves she noticed an old beat up magazine about wilderness survival. Flipping through a couple pages she glanced back at Mike. "How much is this?"

"Mike squinted at the magazine she held in her hand. "Ah' that there I can let go for sixty caps. Has a great deal about how to survive in the wild, how to travel smarter 'n faster, how to cook wild game and all sorts of useful travel information."

"Tanner?"

"Yeah, if you want it get it." As Mike jotted it down on his pad Tanner began looking through an assortment of leather jackets hanging on a rack.

"Those are great protection for knife fights, and hand to hand fighting. They really help to cushion the blows. They can help a bit with small arms fire, but only at long range."

"OH MY GOD!" The two men shot looks in Brooke's direction as she clutched a long flowing pink dress in her arms. "It's just like what the princesses used to wear in those pre war books my father read to me. Can I try it on?"

"Brooke what could we possibly use-"

"Of course you can my dear." Mike interrupted quickly. "It never hurt to try something on." He shot a disapproving look at Tanner. "There is a restroom just round the corner in the back through that door." They watched as Brooke disappeared into the back room. "Now damn it boy, I know your young, but when a pretty little thing like her smiles like that after all you've been through you don't tell her no."

"I know, I just-"

"Eh, you'll understand one day. Now back to that leather jacket. It ain't as nice as leather armor, but it's a might good deal better than that Brahmin skin you're wearing. I can sell it to ya for a hundred and eighty caps. I wish I could sell ya each one but I can't afford to with the money you have left."

Tanner put the leather jacket on, the mixture of its size and weight, the smell of leather and the night black color already made him feel stronger. "I'll take one for me and her."

"Listen I like you, but like I said I can't afford to let ya have two at that price."

"I'm sorry Mike. You've been great to us, and now I feel bad, cause we lied to you. We have more caps than what we said. We just had a really ba-"

"Ah, shut up kiddo. First rule of bartering never let them know how much money that have. You keep learning like this and your gonna go far out here. Haha." Mike scribbled onto his pad.

"Why howdy there." The door Brooke had gone through to get to the back room slammed shut, as a tall man in a long leather duster opened the front door to the shop making the bell chime. Tanner turned to look at the man, inwardly smiling at the sound his new leather jacket made when he moved. "Hello thar Mike, stranger." The man tipped his hat to each of them.

"What can I do for you Sheriff Cutler?"

The man took a couple long slow steps into the shop. "Well it seems that some young man came into town this morning and started shoving around a couple 'o tha locals." The man took off his cowboy hat and played with it in his hands. "Now I don't care none about people fighting in my town, hell there's at least a half dozen fights going on right now I imagine. But it's what this young man had with him I'm interested in."

"Sir everything I have with me is up there on that counter. I assure you there is nothing of importance, or illegal in there. As for shoving around locals, they came at me first sir."

The sheriff laughed and eyed Tanner hard. "Such polite manners in such a harsh fucking world. You ain't been out in the wastes long having ya boy?" The sheriff spit a long stream of saliva onto the dusty floor. "And everything you had with you is not up on that thar counter. You see these boys told me you come into town with some beautiful little thing hangin on too ya's arm."

"Sheriff." Mike stepped from behind the counter and walked between Tanner and the man. "This young man is a survivor of Rockshed. He came into town last night and stumbled into my shop. Now I know it's against my true nature but I took pity on him, seeing as all he's been through and offered to put him up for a couple days."

"And the girl?"

"Probably one of the local hookers, while I strongly disapprove of such activities," Mike shot a hard look back, "I can understand such a thing after all he has been through."

"Now Mike I want to believe you I really do. And truth is told I have no reason not too. But these men said this girl was young, pretty, and everything that the prostitutes in this town are not. Now except for my wife I don't think they could confuse such a thing. Or maybe miss Sally, with her long 'ol legs and curvaceous backside. But I don't have reason to doubt ya. So I's tell's ya what. You enjoy your time here my young friend. But you do me one favor, you's come see me before you be leaving town. And don't go thinking 'bout sneaking out. I already got my men looking out for ya." The sheriff let another long stream of saliva fly onto the dusty floor. "You have a good day Mike. Stranger, I'll be seeing you soon."

"Good to see you again sheriff."

"I'll be seeing you soon sheriff." Tanner said through clenched teeth.

"Now that tone wasn't quite so polite now was it?" With that the sheriff turned and walked out of the shop. The two men inside stood in silence as they listened to the sheriffs steps get farther away.

Finally Mike broke the silence. "Well looks like you got some trouble on your hands."

"We don't want to be a burden of any kind to you. You have done more than you ever needed for us. We will take our things and get outta town."

"Ain't gonna work like that Tanner. He's got eyes everywhere. He's an ex raider, attacked this town about thirteen years ago and made himself 'sheriff'. Been running this place his way ever since."

"Not again?" The two men spun round to see Brooke standing in the doorway, the pink dress clinging to every subtle curve of her body, her blonde hair caressing the exposed flesh of her uncovered shoulders. She was looking sadly at the floor. "My whole life the way I look has brought nothing but trouble. Trouble for me, my father, Rockshed, Tanner, and now you Mike."

The merchant moved quickly to her side and lifted her chin gently until she was looking in his eyes. "No young lady, don't you ever be sayin nothing like that ever again you hear? Your beauty has brought nothing but a smile to this mans face, and kindness to my heart that I feared had been long dead since my precious wife's passing."

"What should we do now?" Tanner was at the lone window peering up and down the street at the people beginning to mill about the town in the early afternoon sun.

"You could wait it out a couple days, see if he forgets about ya, but I doubt he will. As drunk as those men may have been this morning they are right. There ain't no one this pretty in Cuideste."

"And there's no way for us to sneak outta town?"

"Not any safe way, and if you did and the sheriff found out, it would most likely mean my life in forfeit."

"We won't do that to you." Brooke grabbed the man's hand and squeezed it tight.

"Now young girl you just may make this aging man believe that there is still love in this harsh world after all."

"OK, ok. We have to think." Tanner set hard on the windowsill his head heavy in his hands. "What if I just go see what this 'sheriff' wants from me?"

"Well I'm afraid that's our only option on that front." Mike walked to his counter and jumped on it resting his feet. "Lock that door will ya please."

Tanner stood and locked the door securely before returning to his seat on the windowsill.

"I'm going to go change out of this thing." Brooke turned with an air of sadness about her.

"No you wait right there." Mike smiled at her. "Come have a seat with us. Over there out of sight of the window and any passerby's. I've never seen anyone actually wear that. All the hooker's here know they can't afford it, and no raider, and most adventurers would never even think about it. A dress as beautiful as that deserves to be worn. Especially by a stunning girl like you."

"Thank you." Brooke's face was flush from the compliment. "Why are you so kind to us?"

Mike stared long and hard at the far side of his shop. Perhaps he was lost for words, or lost for an explanation, but as they soon found out he had just been lost in memories. "Perhaps it's because you remind me of my wife and me. We started off young like you. We wanted to go on adventures, and find a better life for ourselves in the wasteland. Now our story didn't have a tragic beginning like yours. And I am deeply sorry for what has happened to you. Perhaps I like you because sometimes people do need to take care about each other. This world can keep you so distant from anyone you may ever actually care about that you feel forever alone, even amongst the largest cities. Maybe because your beauty makes me smile Brooke, or because the way Tanner watches you, and protects you it reminds me of the good in men." The store owner stared at the floor for several moments before sighing heavily and speaking slow and sad. "Or maybe. Maybe I'm just an aging man trying to save my soul from the things I've done in my life."

"Sir I don't know what we can do to repay you. You have been nothing but fair and honest with us, and now you have lied for us, risked your business, and possibly even your life." Tanner shook his head. "I don't know what this debt is you're carrying in your soul, but I for one think it may just be repaid."

"Humph. When I woke up this morning I knew something was going to be different about today. I just had this feeling, this feeling that it was either going to be a great day, or a shitty day. Well so far it has been both. Butcha no what? I gotta bit of a plan that may just be able to help you two out a little bit."

"Mike you really don't have too."

"Now, I think I do. And not even that I think I do, by God I want to." Mike jumped off the counter and held out his hand to Brooke sitting across the room. "But first I would like one thing from you Brooke." Tanner fought the urge to stand and run at the man, willing himself to trust him for all he had done for them already. "With your permission of course Tanner my boy."

"What is it?" He asked as politely as he could wearing a fake smile.

Mike looked up blinking his eyes for a few seconds before returning his look to Brooke. "I have not danced in eight years. Not since my wife died. And to share a dance with a girl as beautiful as you, in a dress like that. Well that would make a sad man's heart smile again." Brooke looked at Tanner only as a courtesy, as she was already walking towards Mike. She reached out and took his outstretched hand and let him pull her close. "Tanner?"

"Yes sir?"

"There's an old record player behind the counter. It's ready to go; you just have to hit play." Tanner quickly jumped over the merchants counter and pressed play on the record machine. It hissed to life, playing low and slow as it let Frank Sinatra dance into the buildings air. "This was my wife's favorite song."

"She was a very lucky woman." Brooke answered as Mike began spinning her around the shop floor.

"And today is a great day." He whispered with tears in his eyes.


End file.
